Shades of Grey
by MizzMustache
Summary: AU! Tainted innocence warping a young apparitions sanity. Grey is all she can see. A labyrinthine life she leads, longing for answers and that rare compassion.


**Shades of Grey**

_Prologue_

* * *

_I prefer to perceive my life as a domino effect. Events seem to occur for some undetermined reason; Fate always has a way of seeking you out despite how frequent you attempt to cloak yourself from it. Chronological order can be the sole thing to suffice how moments in time have both formed and rented me._

* * *

The low and constant beeping of a heart monitor, mixed with an irritating hum echoed off the peeling eggshell walls of Sora's hospital room. She could hear the occasional drip of her IV and nurses making chit chat as they passed each other in the hall. Her eyes smoldered to be open from the consecutive tears that leaked down her once lightly tanned faced and onto the pillow she was currently using. Her lungs clenched and sent her into a fit of hysterical coughing, which caused more tears to run and singe her already burning face.

Two nurses rushed in at the shrill of her heart monitor going into a frenzy. Sora began gasping for air, her coughing showing no mercy on her lungs, or body for that matter, as it shook her body harshly. One nurse managed to steady her right arm, which contained the IV, and injected a relaxant into her while the other hurried to attach a breathing machine to her. An effect could be seen almost immediately as her breathing steadied itself and her body seemed to relax and settle back onto the bed, resting her eyes and relishing in the air passing into her lungs. 'Damn cigarettes' she inwardly scolded herself.

Sweat beaded her forehead and neck from a fever that refused to break. The nurse that injected her cleansed the area around the IV and placed a cool rag upon her forehead. The other nurse readied the sucker to clean her lungs. "Do you think it's okay to do that today?" one of them queried. "If we don't, the tar will settle further and she'll die!" the other hissed. "Come now ladies. She'll be fine." a male's voice broke in.

Turning her head a tad, she forced her eyes open to glance at the definitely didn't take on the look of a doctor, more like a teen like herself. He stood at around five foot eight and had an ectomorph frame with a mesomorph muscle build. He had thick, messy ebony hair that touched his shirt collar, his bangs cut straightly and rested just below his thin eyebrows.

His eyes were icy blue and held dark circles underneath them. He wore a white, medium sized t-shirt tucked into faded and ripped straight cut jeans. Sandy steel-toed boots covered his feet, his pants tucked into them. A jacket hung loosely over his frame as if it were two-sizes-too-big.

"Do you have authorization to be here at this hour?" the same nurse swiftly avoided his previous statement. "As a matter of fact, I do!" the male snarled. Sharing an uneasy glance between each other, the nurses nodded, asking just one last question, "Of what degree are you related?" the second nurse queried. "Step-brother." he assured them without hesitation.

Nervousness swept through and consumed Sora as the nurses left her with this stranger.

"Don't fret so much, geez." the male sighed in annoyance. Sora arched a brow in question as she detached the machine from herself. "I suppose I should explain myself, huh? Hahaha!" the male casually stated. Smirking, he showed his white teeth, which contradicted his overall appearance.

"I'm Aoi." he introduced, "I was visiting my mom and overheard...well was kinda eavesdropping on some doctors out of boredom, and kinda heard that if they couldn't find a relative to verify your identity, they were gonna release you from the hospital." Aoi explained. Sora's heart skipped a beat, absorbing this information. They were going to kick her out? All because she couldn't hand over information on any living relative? Her face contorted with disgust, exhaustion and distraught.

"I'm not sure what exactly is going on, but you are welcome at my place...pretty sure it beats being here." Aoi offered, feeling sympathy for this woman for some odd reasons. Sora's eyes dilated with shock from Aoi's straightforward suggestion. After some given thought, Sora's features softened at the sincere compassion and reluctantly agreed against her overall distrust of his race. However, at this point, company other than hospital staff sounded blissful, and she couldn't stand being confined within these white walls another night. Thus the commencement of the numerous sequence of events, another chapter in Sora's labyrinthine life.


End file.
